DEFIANCE – Cameron Graham scored a season high 14 points and grabbed
nine rebounds to lead the Wayne Trace Raiders to a 55-37 win over Tinora
in Green Meadows Conference boys basketball action Friday night outside
of Defiance.
Graham scored in every quarter of the contest,
getting two buckets apiece in each of the final three quarters, to lead
Wayne Trace as the red, white and blue improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0
in the conference. The senior forward had at least one rebound in each
stanza as well, finishing with three offensive and six defensive boards.
“Cameron
played well tonight,” noted Raider head coach Jim Linder. “He is
getting better each game and he really came out and did an excellent job
for us. This is a good confidence builder for him and we need him to
continue developing.”
It was the host Rams who jumped in front
early, getting baskets from Gavin Eckert and Nolan Schafer late in the
first period to take a 10-7 advantage after one quarter.
However, Wayne Trace took over in the second stanza.
The
Raiders started the quarter with buckets by Cameron Sinn, Brooks
Laukhuf, Kyle Stoller and Graham as the red, white and blue took a 15-10
lead.
Following a trey by Tinora’s Keegan Miles, Wayne Trace
responded with another Graham two-pointer along with a Laukhuf basket
before a Laukhuf trey extended the Raider lead to 22-13.
The
Raiders continued to widen the margin, getting a Stoller basket and a
Tyler Davis three-point play to expand the margin to 27-13. Wayne Trace
then closed the half with a Davis basket just prior to the halftime
buzzer as the red, white and blue recorded a 29-13 advantage at the
intermission.
“I thought we came out and were more aggressive
there in the second quarter,” Linder added. “It was a good quarter for
us on both ends of the floor.”
Tinora trimmed the deficit to 35-23 on a Lance Rinkel three-pointer but the green and white would get no closer.
Two
free throws by Davis, a trey from Trevor Sinn and a basket by Graham
helped Wayne Trace push the lead back to 44-29 at the end of three
periods.
After the Rams’ Shafer started the fourth quarter scoring
with a basket, the Raiders sealed the contest with a Laukhuf bucket and
two Graham two-pointers to push the lead to 50-31. Wayne Trace cruised
the rest of the way to finish off the 55-37 victory.
Laukhuf
chipped in 13 points, five rebounds and four steals while Cameron Sinn
posted ten markers and three boards. Stoller finished with eight points,
three rebounds and three assists.
Wayne Trace also got a solid
effort off the bench from Davis, who posted seven points and five
rebounds. Trevor Sinn ended the night with three points and two steals
while Hudson Myers dished out two assists.
Rinkel paced Tinora
with a dozen points and three rebounds with Schafer adding 11 markers,
seven rebounds and three assists. Luke Harris (seven), Eckert (four) and
Miles (three) recorded the remaining points for the Rams, who fall to
2-9 overall and 0-2 in the league.
The Raider junior varsity squad fell to 3-7 overall and 1-1 in the Green Meadows Conference after falling 28-25 to the Rams.
Cale
Winans had a dozen points, four rebounds and three steals for Wayne
Trace while Hudson Myers chipped in eight points and five steals. Tyson
Gerber and Kyle Forrer finished with three points and two points,
respectively. Brady Miller posted two assists and two steals.
Aiden
Rittenhouse and Owen Ackerman led the way for Tinora with eight and
seven points, respectively. Other scorers for the Rams were Adam
Spychala (six), Trent Wiemken (three), Rylee Peters (two) and Micah
Shelton (two).
Wayne Trace returns to action on Saturday as the
Raiders host Delphos Jefferson, who is coming off a 61-37 win over
Waynesfield Goshen Friday night.